Emily H organised a lunch with several of the participants of the Multicultural Community Kitchens at the Zen Kitchen in the International Buddhist Temple on Steveston Highway.

The vegetarian restaurant is located at the rear of the temple. Follow the arrow of the sign above which is located in several locations in the temple.

This is where the restaurant is located.

The restaurant has an exquisite Chinese architecture and decoration.

There is a minimum order implemented here. i.e. each patron must order 1 main dish or 3 dim sum items. Main dish is $15 while dim sum is $5 each. There were five of us, so, we ordered 4 main dishes and 3 dim sum items to share.

The above is from the dim sum selection; Vegetable dumplings. The skin of the dumpling was rather thick especially at the pleating.

The above Radish Cake was not bad, which was crispy on the outside and with ample radish.

The last dim sum item was a dessert item, Water Chestnut Cake. It was not too sweet and the water chestnut gives it a contrasting crunchy texture along with the gelatinous cake texture.

The first main dish is Lo Han Assorted Vegetable which includes assorted mushrooms, gluten and vegetables. All the main dish comes with a bowl of steamed rice.

The above is Fried Seaweed Beancurd Roll. This is deep fried and has a very crunchy texture. It is served with sweet chili sauce.

I like the above Mixed Mushrooms with Beancurd Pocket. It was not as saucy as the Lo Han Assorted Vegetable dish. The Beancurd Pocket still has a crunchy texture to it.

The last dish is Braised Tofu with Vegetable. It is similar to the Mixed Mushroom with Beancurd Pocket except the Beancurd Pocket is replaced with Tofu. Come to think of it, most of the dishes taste very similar.

There is a tea charge of $1.50 per person. Credit card is accepted here.

Emily, thank you for organizing this.

Something I learned from these Buddhist friends is that they do not waste even a strand of food. We finished everything except the rice to go.